Getting Lucky
by roca dos
Summary: Crazy things happen in college every day. Modern Day Taang!
1. Aang

**Disclaimer: If ATLA/LoK were mine, Taang would've happened!**

**AN: So I can't update _Practice Makes Perfect_ today because I let my roommate borrow my laptop and I have Chapter 15 in it and I thought I had uploaded it to FFN, but I didn't! *hides* I'll try to update that story once my laptop is back home... In the meantime, how about a Modern Day Taang?**

**I wanted to complete this fic (with the tentative title, _Chance_) before I started posting it, but seeing as I have nothing else to post, um, read this, please? ****It's cracky and shippy and I hope you all like it! Let me know what you think! ****=D**

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Unlike most college students, Aang woke up everyday happy to be alive, thankful for his health, and grateful to be given the daily opportunity to make the most of it. He exercised regularly, ate well, never smoked, focused on his studies, and had only gotten drunk _once_ in his entire twenty-one years of existence. Well, only once up until last night, so now his tally was up to two.

He woke up on the floor of his room with a vicious pounding in his skull, like someone punched him for twelve straight rounds. The light from the window hurt his eyes, so he didn't try to open them a second time. When he attempted to remember what happened the previous night, it only made his headache worse.

"Ugh..." he groaned, running his hands over his face. The morning after was precisely why he didn't like to drink. Perhaps after some food and a shower he would feel better. Luckily for him, he had no class that day.

Scratching his shoulder, he got up to shut the blinds. When he turned back to his big, comfy bed thinking that maybe a little more sleep would help, too, he froze.

Lying in the middle of his California king was a girl. Not just any girl, a half-naked girl hugging a pillow. She wore a green pair of panties and...that was about it. If he didn't count the pillow she was hugging, of course. If that pillow wasn't conveniently covering her chest, she would be topless.

Hangover momentarily forgotten, Aang rushed to the door, hoped it didn't creak when he opened it, and ran out.

...

Sokka walked out of the bathroom at the same time Aang ran out of his room.

"Where's the fire?" Sokka asked, stretching his arms over his head and yawning.

Aang couldn't come up with the words to explain what was going on or why there was a girl in his bed or why he couldn't remember anything about the previous night or why there was a girl in his bed!

"Sokka, did... did you... bring someone back to the apartment with you last night?"

His roommate's eyes nearly bugged out of their head.

"What? No! Why would you ask that?" Aang shrugged, but before he could apologize, the older man continued, "You know I'm with Suki now!" Then, after a beat added, "But, uh, _did_ someone come around looking for me? Ty Lee maybe?"

"No," Aang shook his head. After a few times of running his hand through his shaggy brown hair, grey eyes turned to blue ones. "I think I have a problem, Sokka."

"Yeah, those boxers," Sokka smirked, grabbing the juice from the fridge and drinking straight from the carton.

Aang looked down at himself surprised to see that he was in fact _only _wearing boxers...and he had been in his room with a girl who was wearing almost as little clothing as he was. Actually _less_ since the panties she had on were much smaller than his boxers... _Focus, Aang!_ He swallowed nervously. "There's a girl in my room," he whispered to his roommate.

Sokka choked on the juice.

"Did you just say what I think you said?" he coughed, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and throwing the juice back in the fridge.

Aang nodded.

"Let me get this straight. There's a girl -"

Aang chewed the side of his thumb nervously.

"- _in_ your room?"

Aang nodded again.

"And you're out here with me!" Sokka yelled.

"Shhh!"

"Seriously, man, why aren't you, you know, _in there_?"

He laughed at his own joke.

"Sokka, this is serious!" Aang whispered. "What am I going to do?"

"You want, like, tips?"

"No! How do I get her out of there?"

Sokka grinned knowingly. "Ah-ha! So you _are_ the love 'em and leave 'em type. I knew it. No one's _that_ good. Suki and my sister owe me a big wad of cash."

The knock at the door made both roommates jump in place for very different reasons. Sokka smiled, Aang frowned.

"That's probably them now and I am so gonna make them pay up. Then, we can buy breakfast, cool?"

"Sokka, wait!" Aang grabbed his sleeve. "Maybe they'll go away if they think no one's here."

_"Open up, Sokka! We know you're in there!"_

Aang rubbed the back of his neck wondering what to do. "Just... Don't say anything about..._ you know_." He pointed his chin towards his room and just hoped the girl didn't wake up anytime soon.

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Fine," he sighed, disappointed in his roommate. For a second, he thought Aang was _finally_ going to step up and be his wingman- if Suki and he broke up again, that is. The kid was good-looking, but way too shy and far too nice. It was a waste, really. Since Jet moved out, things had never been the same. Oh well.

Katara and Suki stepped inside when Sokka opened up.

"Where are your clothes?" was the first thing Suki asked Aang. "Morning, babe," she said, kissing Sokka. "How about some breakfast?"

"Sounds great!" he replied, then made a face when he realized Suki did not intend to make it, but expected him to. He muttered to himself as he grabbed two bowls for cereal.

Katara smiled at Aang's blush. "You okay?" she asked, taking in his scarce attire.

"Uh, yeah," Aang replied, crossing his arms over his chest, so that his hands were tucked under his armpits. Katara was one of his closest friends now, but when he first moved in with Sokka, he had had the hugest crush on her. She never seemed interested though, treating him like a little brother, but she was always nice, so they became friends in no time.

"Did you guys just wake up?" Suki asked, jumping on the countertop. Then, she seemed to remember something and smiled. "And how was _your_ night, Aang?"

The young man coughed. "What? Why?" he choked out, then cleared his throat, "I mean, why do you ask?"

Suki's smile only widened and for a second Aang wished Katara had never kept in touch with the other girl. She and Suki had been friends back in high school, which is where Sokka met the green-eyed brunette. Sokka claims Suki had been too young at the time, so he waited until she was older to ask her out. She, however, says he did ask her out, but she had a boyfriend at the time, an older guy who Aang had never met. Anyway, Aang wished he could go back in time to the day Katara met Suki and have them never meet, so that she couldn't ask him that question now!

Sokka narrowed his eyes and pointed an accusing finger at his girlfriend. "You _know_ something woman, what is it?"

"What did I tell you about calling me that?"

"Heh," Sokka smiled apologetically and hugged her. "You're breakfast is served, milady," he said, bowing dramatically, presenting her with a bowl of Lucky Charms.

Suki took the bait and kissed her boyfriend before she started on her cereal. "Thank you, kind sir."

Katara glanced at everyone present and raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "What's going on?"

Sokka and Suki both turned to look at Aang.

"You wanna answer that, buddy?"

"Well..." Aang scratched the back of his head. "The thing is..."

Just when he was about to explain, the door to his room creaked opened and the girl who had been sleeping in his bed poked her head out. Aang crossed his arms over his chest again in embarrassment. It wasn't often that he wore so little with other people around. That's not what he was focused on though. He hadn't gotten a good look at her before, but _wow!_ She was...she was _cute!_ Straight, black hair, which was kinda all over the place at the moment, the greenest of eyes, and a killer smile.

Suki choked on her cereal and Sokka tried not to laugh as he rubbed her back gently. Katara's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets when she saw the girl sticking her head out of Aang's room. It was a girl she _recognized_, a girl she knew would be trouble!

"**_Toph?_**"


	2. Toph

**AN: Since the first chapter went up in hurry last time, I forgot to mention that this fic was inspired by a post I saw on tumblr a while back. I read it and immediately thought it sounded like something Toph would say, so you can tell me if you agree or not. I'll include the link after the next chapter, I think. Oh, and a quick warning about updating: I'm not sure how often it'll be for this fic because I do want to complete one of the other two I have going on already, heh.**

**Anyway, here's Ch 2! =)**

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Muffled sounds roused her from sleep and she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand to stare up at the ceiling. Her eyes burned a little, but that was probably because she slept with her contacts on again. She had a slight headache, but nothing she couldn't deal with. That is until she sat up in bed and then her headache was the least of her concerns when she quickly realized she'd just woken up in a room she had never been in before!

"What the...?"

This...was a horrible first for her. She _never_ went home with anyone. It just wasn't the kind of thing she did. Ever. Clubs, dating, and all that crap wasn't high on her list of priorities. Aside from that _one_ boyfriend freshman year in college, which she was with for a grand total of two weeks, she had never _been with_ anyone else.

"Shit, shit, shit," Toph whispered, taking in her surroundings.

The huge bed she sat in the middle of took up most of the space in the room. There were two bookcases full of so many books in every size imaginable against one wall, a closet with sliding doors against the other wall, and a huge window opposite the bed. There was only one door near the corner (with a black poster with white font she couldn't quite make out) and she knew that was her only way out, unless...

Jumping out of bed, she ran to the window and grinned. Yes! There was a fire escape she could use! But, probably wouldn't seeing as she didn't have any clothes on. Well, besides the stupid, tiny, green underwear she wore. Where the hell were the rest of her clothes anyway?

There was a banging against another door beyond the one she was staring at. Quickly she searched under the bed and blankets for her stuff. The only thing she found was balled up and hidden under a pillow. It was a plain orange t-shirt with a blue arrow on it which pointed down.

_Screw it._

Toph grabbed it and threw it on. It was too big, reaching halfway to her thighs. Well, if she had to, she could walk out in it at least. She'd seen girls at school with less on.

That's when she heard women's voices and couldn't help wonder if one of them was the jealous girlfriend. Holy shit! What kind of asshole did she come home with? And _why_ would she even do something like that!

Toph chewed on her bottom lip debating what to do until she muttered, "What the hell's wrong with me?" Because only scared ass little girls chose to hide out in mysterious boys' rooms and she was Toph Bei Fong, dammit! She didn't hide! She faced things head on! Damn the consequences! Besides, if the girlfriend wanted to fight her, Toph was sure she could take her.

After a few deep breaths, Toph stalked over to the door and opened it. It creaked and she cursed under her breath.

"_Alright, Toph, you got this,_" she told herself before peeking out into a living room she had never seen before.

She scanned the area quickly and saw four people there looking back at her. First and furthest from her, a guy with lovely mocha skin, ocean blue eyes, and a pony-tail. He smiled and waved, looking oddly familiar... Oh, riiight, she remembered him from the bar. Why could she remember him, but not whatever else happened? Anyway, she didn't hook up with him. Yeah, she'd thought he was cute alright, but then, ah yes, the girlfriend showed up. And that very girlfriend was choking on some cereal while sitting on the counter and staring back at her. When she stopped coughing up a storm, the girlfriend was smiling and looking far too happy to just have been cheated on. Okay, next.

Toph couldn't help the smile that broke out on her own face when she saw _him_. He was lean and tall with shaggy, brown hair and the coolest grey eyes Toph had ever seen. He'd been at the bar, too... Since he was the only one in the living room dressed like she had been moments ago (in just his underwear), odds were she was in his room.

When his hands fell to his side, she caught sight of his perfectly defined chest and abs and _ngh... _Yeah, she had better be in his room. Gods, she was such a sucker for six-packs. But, she didn't usually follow them home.

Toph might have kept staring at him if not for the other girl standing there who happened to clear her throat rather loudly. It was a girl she definitely recognized, having seen her only the previous day. Katara. What was she doing there though?

"**_Toph?_**" Katara gasped and Toph grinned.

"Sup."

"You know each other?" the half-naked boy cried as Toph stepped fully into the doorway.

Half-naked boy's mouth fell open and his grey eyes went wide, travelling from her head to her toes and back up. Blushing a little, Toph was trying to decide if his reaction meant he liked her in his shirt or he didn't. She crossed her arms over her chest to play off the rush of self-consciousness that ran through her.

Katara opened her mouth to speak, "Wh-wh-wha-?"

"Hi, I'm Suki," the choking-on-cereal girl piped up, then pointed at pony-tail, "This is Sokka, you _obviously _know Aang, and I think what Katara over there is trying to say is, what are you doing here?" Suki looked over at Katara for confirmation. The other girl could only nod.

"Yeah, I'll get back to you on that," Toph replied, then turned to the owner of that six-pack and those freaking cool grey eyes, "We gonna talk, or what?"

He nodded dumbly, but the guy named Sokka had to push him forward. Once he stepped into the room, she shut the door.

...

"You're wearing my shirt," were the first words out of his mouth. _The cute girl is wearing my shirt. _She_ is wearing my shirt. She is wearing _my _shirt and it looks so much better on her than it ever did on me_, he thought and he couldn't stop staring.

"No shit," Toph replied with a scowl. They may or may not have slept together and that's the first thing he says to her? "Don't worry, if you gimme my clothes, you'll get it back. I wasn't gonna take it or anything." Well, not anymore.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant." Grey eyes looked away then back. He looked nervous and that made her feel somewhat better. When he raised his hand to rub the back of his neck, Toph had to force her gaze away because those abdominals were calling to her and all she wanted to do was run her fingers up and down along his sleek stomach. "I'm not sure if we introduced ourselves before," he said, blushing a little, which if Toph was completely honest with herself, was kinda cute. "I'm Aang."

"So your friend out there said. Toph," she replied, shaking his offered hand, which might have been one of the weirdest things she'd ever done. Because although she personally had never woken up in a strange guy's bedroom before, she had seen enough tv and movies to know guys didn't just shake your hand while you were both half-naked after you may or may not have slept together.

"I, uh, don't know how to ask this-"

"Just ask," she shrugged one shoulder, keeping her eyes from traveling along his naked torso. "But first, you got another shirt or something?" she said suddenly because if he didn't put some damn clothes on _soon_, she couldn't be held responsible for her actions.

"Oh, of course, I'm sorry," he apologized once more and opened his closet, "What can I get for you?" he asked, pulling a white shirt over his head. Toph felt like she could breathe easy again. "Sweatpants okay?"

She caught him sneaking a peek at her legs.

"Boxers'll be fine."

His eyebrows rose up in surprise.

"Hey, _these_ weren't my idea, alright?" Toph yelled, lifting the orange shirt and pointing at the tiny green panties she wore, which made Aang blush again.

"Whose idea were they?" he asked, looking up at the ceiling as if the most fascinating thing ever existed right there on the plain white paint.

"It was moving day yesterday, okay? These were the only pair I found in the boxes still left at my old place."

His eyes snapped to hers. "You're moving?"

There seemed to be more he wanted to say, but whatever it was he kept it to himself.

"Yup."

"Oh."

His shoulders sagged and Toph wondered what he could be thinking.

After slipping on the yellow boxers he handed her (yellow, really?) she turned to Aang, "So, what were you gonna ask earlier?"

"Oh, that," he swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing up and down. "Well, um... Did we...?"

"Did we _what_?"

Gaze darting all over the place, he wouldn't make eye contact for more than a few seconds. "Did we..._do_...anything last night?" His voice was tiny and his face was even redder than before.

Toph cocked her head to the side. He didn't know either? Huh. She didn't feel so bad anymore.

"You don't remember?" she asked to clarify.

Her expression must have not been what she thought because Aang was suddenly apologizing profusely. "I'm so sorry, Toph! I know that sounds horrible and I feel awful! I don't know what happened... I've never done anything like this before, I swear. It's just I don't usually drink and I think I drank last night because Sokka wanted to celebrate and-"

Toph's hand shot out to cover his mouth.

"Dude, relax," she grinned. "My mind's a little fuzzy on the details, too."

His grey eyes went wide again. "Really?"

"Really," she said with a careless shrug, but it was killing her that she didn't remember _anything_! How could she not remember even a little about the slightly dorky, but otherwise totally smoking hot guy standing right in front of her? She usually handled her alcohol pretty well, so she had no idea what could've happened.

Aang was rubbing the back of his neck and then he just blurted out, "Would you like to get some breakfast? With me? We can talk, maybe?"

Toph felt like laughing. Not at him, just in general because she was suddenly in a very good mood. "Sure. I can eat," she replied with a smirk.

"I'm sorry I left you in here by yourself earlier," he said, his cheeks turning pink, "I only did that because-"

"Eh, don't even worry about it. I didn't even hear you."

"That's not what I meant," he said, smiling this dazzling smile that Toph could've sworn literally made her heart stop.

Before either of them could say anything else, someone was knocking at the door so hard, Toph was sure whoever was on the other side would burst through it any second.


	3. Suki

**AN: Apologies for taking so long on everything, but after that omgthattookforever case of writer's block, I'm _finally_ working on ****the next chapter of _Practice Makes Perfect_****! \o/ In the meantime here's chapter 3 of _Getting Lucky_ (I had this typed up months ago but only found it yesterday! *headdesk*).**

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Suki had finished her cereal, washed her bowl plus all the dirty dishes her boyfriend had lying around, including the stuff on the foosball table that had some green stuff starting to grow on it.

"Can we leave now?" she asked from the couch, sounding bored. She and Katara were supposed to stop by the bookstore before running their errands and the shop closed up early that day.

Katara looked appalled. "No, we can't just leave! They have to come out here and explain what happened!"

Suki noticed the worried expression Sokka gave them, probably hoping they didn't start arguing. Again.

"Why?" Suki groaned.

"What do you mean, why? Because Aang is so young and he's never done anything like this before and I'm worried about how he'll take it when he finds out that...that _girl_ was just using him and-

"You don't know that," Suki said. Sure, Aang was a cool guy and pretty good friend, but if he wanted to sleep around, well, that was his thing. He was a smart kid, he knew to use protection.

"We don't know _her_!" Katara yelled. "_He's_ our friend, Suki!"

"Hey guys, I'm sure they can hear you," Sokka pointed out.

Suki knew how overprotective Katara could be. As nice as it was to have someone like her that would back you up no matter what, it was also frustrating when she got involved and no one asked her to.

Clearly upset, Katara sat on the love seat and crossed her arms, her eyes burning holes into Aang's door.

Sokka sat down next to Suki, put his arm around her shoulder, and pretty soon was fast asleep, snoring lightly and everything.

Suki knew she should really get going. Whatever Aang and - what did Katara call her? Oh yeah, Toph - well, whatever Aang and Toph did, it really wasn't any of her business. But damn, did she want to see what happened when they finally came out and Katara went off on them. Neither Katara nor Sokka were very realiable narrators, which meant Suki was stuck waiting for them, too, if she wanted to know what actually happened.

Finally, after like an hour during which Suki read through the one-year-old magazine she found under the couch, Katara must have had enough of waiting because she was off the couch and banging on Aang's door.

"Hey, you two! Come out here!"

After a few minutes, the door flew open, making Katara take a step back.

Aang and Toph walked out of his room, he was blushing and she looked pissed, but Katara didn't seem to care. Suki noticed Toph was still wearing Aang's favorite orange shirt accompanied with a pair of yellow boxers, while he wore a white Avatar U t-shirt and black sweatpants.

"Great, you're all still here," Toph muttered sarcastically and rolled her eyes.

"_Toph,_" Aang admonished, still blushing. He looked from Katara to Suki to Sokka, who was passed out on the couch.

"Yes, we're _still_ here," Katara replied, her hands at her waist. "I think we need to talk about _this_."

Toph raised an eyebrow and Suki could tell that the short girl wasn't going to listen to anything Katara had to say. "Why do _we_ need to talk about this?" she asked with a laugh. "_This_ is between me and Twinkletoes!"

"Twinkletoes?" Suki couldn't help asking with barely contained amusement in her voice. What she couldn't possibly know is that Toph hadn't meant to say that out loud, it just slipped out. Probably because Toph had been calling him that in her mind since Aang confessed he snuck out of the room practically the moment he woke up, but he explained all that while Katara banged on the door, so maybe Toph heard wrong. Anyway, the thing was, Toph was usually a light sleeper, waking up at the tiniest sound, but she didn't even hear his light ass footsteps when he ran out.

"Yeah, _Twinkletoes_. Got a problem?" Toph snapped.

Suki laughed. "Nope. Not me."

Katara spoke again, trying to sound and remain calm. "I just think we need to clear the air if we're going to live together, is all."

Aang's eyes went wide. "WHAT?" he asked, but was quickly ignored.

"Look here, Sugar Queen -"

"Sugar Queen?" Katara cried.

"- there's not much to talk about," Toph insisted, her voice escalating with each word, "Because this is none of your business! I'm twenty-one and he's," she paused and looked at Aang, "Well? How old are you, Twinkletoes?"

"Twenty-one."

Toph grinned, relieved. "See, we're both twenty-one. We're old enough to do whatever we want!"

"Or _who_ever you want," Suki added and received angry glares from the other two girls and an embarrassed look from Aang.

"Maybe you _are_ old enough, but it _is_ my business!" Katara yelled back, "Because Aang is my friend and I care about what happens to my friends!"

"Why is everyone yelling and screaming!" Sokka broke in, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry, _Snoozles_," Toph whispered, "We'll try to keep our arguing down."

"Really?" Sokka smirked, "Thanks, I'd appreciate-"

"NO, NOT REALLY!" Toph yelled at the top of her lungs, making him jump.

Sokka's face made Suki laugh, but otherwise, this wasn't turning out like she expected, so she asked, "Seriously, Katara, what's the problem here?"

"The problem is Toph and I are going to be roommates and-"

Aang cut her off, "You two are going to be roommates?" he asked, clearly hoping he received an answer that time.

"Yeah, that a problem?" Toph asked, turning her irritated glare on him.

"No, no, I only...the thing is..."

Then something she hadn't considered until that moment seemed to dawn on Toph and she narrowed her eyes, looking back and forth between Aang and Katara.

"Is something going on between you two?" she asked, pointing between the boy she might have slept with and the girl she was supposed to move in with.

"What? Of course not!" Katara denied.

Aang blushed and shook his head no.

"How 'bout you explain it to me, Snoozles?"

"My name is Sokka."

"Yeah, whatever. So, what's their deal?"

Sokka glanced at his sister and then at his roommate. He opened his mouth to speak, then quickly shut it tight when Katara started to have that dangerous look in her eyes.

Suki spoke up. "They used to have a crush on each other, but never had the guts to do anything about it."

Katara's whole face paled, then turned a bright crimson red. "SUKI!"

Aang's blushed only deepened. Pretty soon his head was going to explode at the rate he kept blushing, Suki thought.

"I...I didn't know that," Aang said.

Katara turned to him. "It was a really long time ago and you were _very young_, Aang. Anyway, it was a really long time ago."

"You said that already," Sokka smirked.

Toph shook her head and walked past everyone towards the door. "Forget this. I'm outta here."

"Wait," Aang stopped her. Ignoring the incredulously looks he was getting from his friends (namely Katara), he said, "I thought we were going to get a bite to eat? And...talk some more?"

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen."

Suki felt bad for them both. She really should have left already and dragged Katara with her. It was hard enough figuring things out between two people, but having three more added to the mix would only make it that much worse. So again she stepped in, saying, "I would date you so hard, then marry the shit out of you."

Sokka's eyes lit up, "Babe, you asking Toph out?"

Suki smacked his arm, "No!"

Toph paused, her hand on the doorknob. Very slowly, she turned to look back at Suki. So did Aang.

Suki shrugged. "That's what you said," she told Toph, "to him," she pointed at Aang.

"When did this happen?" Sokka asked.

"Last night at the bar," Suki replied, then because everyone was waiting for an explanation, she elaborated, "Sokka and Aang were sitting at the bar - wow, that sounds like the beginning of a really bad joke - which by the way, you never explained why, Sokka!"

"Why what?"

"_Why_ we were celebrating?"

"Uh, can we get back to me and Toph?" Aang asked, sheepishly.

"Oh, yeah. Anyway, after I came back from the restroom and sat next to Sokka, I saw Toph jump on the empty stool next to Aang. She asked if he had a girlfriend. When he replied he didn't, she said and I quote, _'Good because __I would date you so hard, then marry the shit out of you, your girlfriend wouldn't stand a chance.'_"

Toph laughed, her green eyes sparkling. Aang gave her a shy smile. Yes, she was a little embarrassed, but that was ballsy even for her, so she couldn't help feel impressed with herself.

Sokka laughed out loud. "Nice," he said, hand up in the air for a high five. Toph obliged.

Katara frowned, "Yes, that sounds like something she'd say."

Everyone turned to her.

"How would you know?" Suki asked. "Didn't you guys only meet yesterday?"

Katara looked down at her phone. "Oh, look at the time. We should really get going, Suki. Come on, let's go!" she said, grabbing her purse and heading straight for the door.

* * *

_What is Katara hiding? Dun dun dun... Yes, this is the crackiest thing I've ever written! XD It was supposed to be a whodunit of sorts, where we don't know _what_ happened and only get bits of info from different povs while we try to piece it all together and ok I'll stop typing now. What do you think of it so far?_


	4. Katara

**AN: ****Wow, this hasn't been updated since October!? O.O**

******I blame tumblr! /flees**

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"Hey, wait up!" Suki yelled, trying to stop Katara from practically running out the door.

The other girl, however, had no intention of stopping, and continued with her speedy escape.

"Sis, hold on!" Sokka called after her, but was ignored.

Katara was already out in the hallway when she heard Toph mutter, "At least we know what kind of friend you _really_ are!"

She skidded to a halt so suddenly, her brother nearly crashed into her. "I heard that!" Katara cried, temper flaring. She stalked back inside, blue eyes ablaze with growing rage.

Toph crossed her arms unfazed. "I said it loud," she smirked unrepentant, her green eyes mocking. Amused, she watched as Sugar Queen stepped back inside. Snoozles walked in after her. Toph was still grinning when she added, "Hey, I'm not the one claiming I need to know who my friends are sleeping with one minute and then running away the next because someone asked me a question I didn't want to answer, now am I?"

In the background Katara heard her brother and best friend's not so subtle gasps of, "Ooooh!" and "Burn!"

"I don't have explain myself to you," Katara stated defiantly, having had enough of the younger girl. She just wanted to get the hell out of that apartment. She'd already let it slip she knew _of_ Toph, she really couldn't tell them from _where_. After all, she promised. Still, Katara took a second to take a calming, deep breath and compose herself.

"How about me?" Aang asked, his voice soft. "You think you could explain it to me?"

That's the last thing Katara wanted to do. But she supposed she could talk about it now, years later. The thing was, she cared for Aang deeply, he was like family. What happened when they first met didn't even matter now. That little crush she'd harbored for a short time was just that, a little crush. At the time, Aang was an incoming freshman, whereas she was a junior with the same major (they'd both decided on different ones since then- Katara was going to be a doctor and Aang's focus had become cultural studies). It was only a two-year age difference between them, but it was two years full of experiences Katara didn't want him to miss out on. Having gone through something similar with Jet and eventually regretting it, she couldn't do that to Aang. So she kept her crush to herself. Well, not _entirely_ to herself since she had the bad habit of sharing almost everything Suki. It was something she was currently regretting because it just turned around to bite her in the ass.

Taking another deep breath, Katara began her explanation.

"I'm not sure when it started or when it ended, for that matter. But," she cleared her throat. "I did like you early on Aang and-"

"No, Katara," Aang blushed as he held both palms up to stop her. "I meant why are you so against Toph?"

"...Oh."

Katara's nervous laughter filled the living room.

"_Smooth_," Toph muttered under her breath.

Blushing furiously, blue eyes glared at green ones. In that moment Katara wanted to blurt out every bad thing she'd ever heard about Toph and all about her wild behavior. How at eighteen she ran away from home. Lived in her car. Dropped out of school even though she had been given a full ride. How she couldn't hold down a job long enough to pay her rent and often had to crash at one of two places, both belonging to the _only_ two people she considered friends. Or what was more likely, the only two people willing to put up with her! How she'd dyed her hair every color imaginable, shaved her head once, and got a tattoo she later had to borrow money to have removed.

But, Katara held her tongue and didn't say any of it, turning dismissively from the green eyed girl to focus on Aang.

"See what kind of person she is! Rude and loud and it's clear she has issues!"

"You think I have issues?" Toph snapped and Katara could tell by the looks the shorter girl was sending Aang's direction that she was mildly irritated with him for not defending her. What Katara couldn't possibly know is that Toph only glanced at him to catch his reaction. Toph didn't need some guy to stick up for her, she didn't need anyone. She could take care of herself, by herself.

Somehow in a matter of seconds both women had moved so that they were in each other's faces.

Aang stepped between them. "Okay, okay, you both need to calm down."

"Both?" Katara turned to face him so fast it nearly made his head spin. "_I'm completely calm!_" she snarled at him.

"Should we do something?" Suki asked her boyfriend.

"Hey, I'm just enjoying the show," he replied, clearly amused. And was he eating popcorn? Where'd that even come from?

"Alright, everyone relax!" Suki yelled, jumping up off the couch. "Aang and Toph, you need to sort this out and we'll leave you to it in a minute, but first," she paused to look at her best friend. "What are you not telling us, Katara? If there's something about Toph we should know, you need to say something. If not to all of us, then at least to Aang since he and she..._you know_..."

"No way!" Toph cried, outraged. "I wanna hear what Katara has to say!"

"Yeah, I kinda do, too," Sokka chimed in.

Sighing, Katara took a seat on one of the ottomans.

"Fine," she said, relenting. "I haven't heard that you're secretly a murderer or anything horrible like that," Katara assured Toph. "But, just that you've had some... _problems... _Primarily, with your parents-" Toph narrowed her eyes to slits and Katara knew exactly what that look meant. Whoever talked was a dead man.

"And where'd you hear that crap?" Toph growled, not letting her finish. Only a handful of people could possibly know and Toph refused to believe any of them would betray her.

Katara sniffed indignantly, but when she heard the slight tremor run through the other girl's voice, her cold demeanor melted away. It was hard not to when she recalled other things she knew about the girl currently waiting an answer.

Aang moved to Toph's side and tried to take her hand in show of support. Katara watched with mixed feelings as Toph pulled her fingers from his grasp to cross her arms over her chest. Sighing, she realized she probably shouldn't have gotten involved at all. Or, tried to come between Aang and Toph, especially since she knew some of the reasons behind Toph's past actions.

Though Toph and her parents had more than their fair share of problems, it wasn't _all_ her fault. After an accident that nearly left Toph blind when she was a little girl had not the best medical facilities and specialists been employed, her parents treated her like she was tiny and helpless and fragile instead of the capable person she wished to be seen as. From the age of five to eighteen, she was home schooled as a way to ensure her safety, even though that also meant she was kept isolated with no way of making friends. Later, Toph's father insisted she attend business school so she could one day take over the family empire. When Toph refused, her father cut her off completely, insisting that if she wouldn't do as he believed was in her best interest, he would not pay for whatever college she chose to attend. This, despite the fact that the Beifongs were one the wealthiest families in the country and could have easily covered tuition, housing, books, and meals for every person currently in the living room _and_ it would have been nothing but chump change for them.

"Well?" Toph barked.

Katara shook her head; she had already said too much. "I promised I wouldn't say." When Toph threw her arms up in frustration, the blue eyed girl apologized. "I'm sorry, but I can't betray his trust."

_Crap!_ She prayed no one caught her tiny slip, but of course everyone did. And, they all jumped on it, too.

Aang mouth a silent 'his' to himself.

"_His_ trust?" Toph repeated, instantly narrowing down her list of people who would die a slow and painful death at her hands.

Suki was smiling. "His?" she teased. "And, what 'his' would this be, hmm, Katara?"

"Yeah!" Sokka demanded to know. Since their mom passed away, he couldn't help but grow very protective of his little sister. It's part of the reason he kicked Jet out after discovering he and Katara had been seeing each other without his knowledge. Or consent.

"Sokka, don't look at me like that!" Ugh, he was so annoying when he went into his overprotective, 'big brother' mode.

"You still haven't answered my question!" he yelled.

"You didn't ask me a question!" she yelled back.

He opened his mouth to argue, but his sister was right. Recovering quickly, he said, "Well, Suki _did _ask you something, so answer her question!"

"Um, guys," Aang spoke, interrupting them. "There's some guy at the door looking at us."

All eyes turned to the the man standing underneath the doorway.

Katara cursed silently after she glanced at her phone. He was early. And, because of this whole thing with Aang and Toph, she was running late.

Embarrassed and wondering how much he overheard, she shifted in place. Unable to stop herself from suddenly feeling self-conscious when his gaze lingered on her longer than the others, she ran her fingers through her hair and adjusted her skirt. Well, she supposed her friends and brother had to meet him some time, right? Now was as good a time as any, she thought. But before Katara could direct a single word his way, someone flew past her straight into him.

"Sparky!" Toph cried as she hugged a stunned-looking Zuko.


	5. Zuko

**AN: Have another update full of cracky goodness, woo! \o/**

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Suki raised an eyebrow. "Sparky?" she laughed.

"..._Sparky_? Pfft, 'Snoozles' doesn't seem so bad now, does it?" Sokka chuckled to himself. "It even sounds like some sort of extinct, ferocious animal."

His girlfriend giggled. "Yeah, keep telling yourself that."

Ignoring the looks everyone was giving him, Zuko returned Toph's embrace. "Hey, Short Stuff," he grinned, no longer standing there looking like he was trying to figure out what was going on.

"What'd I say about calling me that?" she snapped, pulling her hand back to punch his arm.

Though it hurt, Zuko couldn't rub his shoulder for two reasons: one, it wasn't manly to do so with an audience watching his every move and two, the return of Toph's massive hug kept both his arms trapped against his sides.

"Uh, why are you dressed in _that_?" he asked with a laugh, taking in Toph's colorful attire. Normally, she wouldn't be caught dead wearing a bright orange t-shirt with a big, blue arrow on it or a pair of yellow boxers. Who even owned a pair of yellow boxers?

"Dude, don't even ask," Toph replied with a dramatic roll of her eyes and Aang, who had somehow inched closer, wondered why no one liked his clothes. The green eyed girl then said, "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have any of my clothes from last time, would you?"

When Toph asked Zuko that very simple, very innocent question, chaos descended upon Aang and Sokka's apartment once again.

"What the hell does that mean!?" Katara yelled, fists at her waist.

"Holy shit, she slept with him, too?" Sokka cackled behind his hand.

Suki shrugged. "I don't know, babe, but it sure looks that way."

"Toph, who is he?" Aang demanded, coming to stand next to her. Sure he'd seen him walking around campus from time to time, but Aang didn't know a thing about the guy. All he knew was he didn't like the looks of him one bit. And it had nothing to do with the scar around his left eye either. "What's he doing here?"

"Who am _I_?" Zuko scowled, not failing to notice the way the kid was looking at Toph with a possessive gleam in his grey eyes. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. "Excuse me, but who are _you_?"

"I'm Aang," the kid replied, not backing down. "And, I'm Toph's...um..." His bravado faded away as he glanced at the girl wearing his shirt for a hint of what would be the appropriate thing to say.

Behind him Sokka snickered. "He's her _um_. Good one, Aang."

"Seriously?" Toph mumbled incredulously. "That's all you got?"

"I'm sorry, but we haven't had a chance to talk," Aang explained pathetically.

"Talk about what?" Zuko asked.

Toph waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it," she answered, turning away from Aang, whose cheeks glowed pink. Toph had no clue what she and Twinkletoes were either, but she woulda definitely come up with something better than 'um'. Frustrated, she turned to her old friend instead, grabbed his arm, and dragged him out into the hallway. "So, what are you doing here anyway? How'd you know where to find me?"

"I talked to uncle."

She smiled. "'Course you did. Wait, is Pops okay?"

"Uncle's fine," he promised. "But it's not him I'm worried about."

Back inside, the others strained to hear their conversation.

"What are they talking about?" Sokka whispered.

Suki smacked his arm. "Quiet and let me listen!"

Zuko glanced into the apartment and noticed Katara was standing off to the side. She had yet to say anything after her outburst. What he didn't understand is why she got so upset. Katara knew about his and Toph's relationship. He told her they'd been like brother and sister from the time they were children. Even before his mom passed away, he had never really gotten along with his immediate family. Not his actual sister or father. But somehow, he, his uncle, and Toph had formed a makeshift family that worked for them.

Next, Zuko caught that Aang kid watching him and Toph. He could tell Aang didn't like the way they were out in the hallway huddled close, talking in hushed voices. Honestly, it was the reason he kept Toph out there longer.

The other two, Katara's brother and his girlfriend, were pretending not to eavesdrop and doing a poor job of it.

"So," Toph called his attention back to her. "Not that I don't like seeing you or anything, but what are you doing here?"

Zuko's golden gaze found Katara's. Her blue eyes seemed to brighten as he looked upon her. A tiny half-smile appeared on his face. Toph, who never missed anything, noticed the exchange. She glanced from Zuko to Katara and back.

"What was that?!" she demanded.

The shared moment came to an abrupt halt with Toph's question.

"What was what?" Zuko asked innocently.

Toph wasn't fooled, however. "That, right now. Between you and Sugar Queen. Don't even try to tell me I didn't see what I know I saw!"

Zuko's eyes snapped to Katara and she shook her head almost imperceptibly. Her brother was right there!

Understanding, Zuko changed the subject quickly. "Did I mention Uncle told me I should stop by and congratulate you?" he said with a grin on his face. "You want to explain to me _why_?"

Toph wasn't usually so gullible and would have normally seen right through his attempt at changing the topic, but she wasn't expecting that at all. "Congratulate _me_? For what?"

Zuko shrugged. "I have no idea. Uncle said I should."

That made no sense to Toph, Zuko could see it in her expression.

"I'll just give him a call and ask," Toph said, reaching for her back pocket where she usually kept her cell. That's when she remembered she wasn't wearing her own clothes. "Twinkletoes, any chance you got my phone?"

"I'll check if it's in my room," he replied and disappeared to look for it.

The grin fell from Zuko's face and he raised a concerned eyebrow.

"Why would _he_ have your phone? And in his room?"

Toph waved him off, dismissing the whole thing. "Long story," she said, sounding almost bored.

It was obvious she was keeping something from him. Assuming she might not want the people inside to hear what it was, Zuko closed the door to Sokka's apartment.

"_He can't just close my door!_" Sokka cried from inside. "_It's _my _door!_"

Turning to Toph, Zuko slipped his hands into his pockets. "Since there's nowhere I have to be just now, explain this long story to me."

"Wish I could, but there's somewhere _I_ gotta be, so..." she shrugged as if it simply couldn't be helped and reached for the doorknob.

"Toph."

With a sigh, her hand fell to her side and she faced him once again.

"Look, it's no big deal, okay?" she insisted without looking at him. Because she knew that once she did, she'd cave and end up telling him everything. Toph didn't give a rat's ass about what most people thought, but Sparky was different. She actually cared about him and what he thought of her. His and Iroh's opinions were the only two that mattered.

Reluctantly, green eyes found hazel ones.

"Promise you won't flip your shit."

"I never do that."

She rolled her eyes dramatically. "_Promise_," she insisted.

"Fine."

"You gotta say it." If he didn't all bets were off.

It was Zuko's turn to sigh dramatically. "I promise I won't..flip my shit."

Ignoring the sarcastic way he said it, Toph took a deep breath.

"Okay. I may have hooked up with that guy in there."

There was a short pause wherein Zuko fought against his initial reaction, which was to race back into the apartment to beat up both of the men in there. And, yes, he would beat up both because he didn't know which one might have slept with the girl who was like his sister and asking questions would take too much time. But, he knew that in the end it would solve nothing. So while his hands turned to fists in his pockets, he remained where he stood. The way his eyes flared or how he opened and closed his mouth various times unable to find the right words, couldn't be helped though.

"You promised," she reminded him and he nodded, reining in his growing fury and slight disappointment.

It wasn't just about the hooking up part. Toph was an adult and free to do as she pleased, but she had been in bad places before and he didn't want to see her fall back into them. And truth be told, no matter how old she got, most days he couldn't help look at her and see the little girl with thick glasses and pigtails who wandered off from a company party at his parent's mansion. That was when a tiny Toph snuck into the library he was hiding in, saw him, and threaten to beat him up if he didn't find something fun for them to do. She was six and he was ten, but they just clicked for some reason and had been close ever since.

"What do you mean _may_ have hooked up with a guy in there? Which guy? There were two!" he yelled, each word more strained than the previous.

"Aang," she replied, a tiny smile curving her lips. Her reaction surprised him, but he kept quiet and let her continue. "The thing is, I don't really remember much about what happened..." she added, glancing up at him. To stop him from saying what she knew was coming, she spoke before he could, "It's possible I had one drink too many."

"Toph! _Why_ were you were drinking?"

"I was celebrating!" she corrected. "Sugar Queen-"

"Sugar Queen?" Despite everything, Zuko laughed. He meant to comment on the nickname before, but he had been trying to distract Toph at the time.

"Yeah, she agreed to rent out her spare room. She called and told me to meet her at the bar downstairs so she could give me the key and-" Toph stopped suddenly.

"And?" he prodded, clearing his throat.

Green eyes narrowed. At first she thought he was only acting weird because there were a bunch of strangers in the apartment and he could be pretty awkward with folks he didn't know, but when she recalled that odd exchange between him and Katara earlier and just now, as he laughed almost affectionately when he said 'Sugar Queen', Toph knew something was definitely up.

He looked nervous. "What?" he asked.

Toph crossed her arms over her chest and smiled knowingly.

"She's the girl you were telling me about, isn't she?"

"What? No. _No_. Why would you think that?"

Yeah, Katara was the girl.

"Do you remember, years ago, when I told you you were a terrible liar? That's still true." Zuko wouldn't look at her. "Why didn't you just tell me?" she wondered, but before he could give her any sort of answer, it all fell into place. "It was you!" she accused, her finger in his face. "You told Katara about me!? Why?" she asked, the betrayal flashing in her eyes. "You ask her to rent out that room to me, too?"

When he didn't reply, Toph knew he had. Oh, she was so pissed! No one knew the shit her parents put her through more than Zuko. How could he talk about her private, personal things to...to...some random girl? If Toph could have moved buildings, she would have lifted and thrown the whole apartment complex on top of Sparky and his big mouth. Turning on her heel, she reached for the doorknob again.

"Toph, wait!" Zuko called out, but she had already burst through it. Everyone was huddle around it and they all stumbled back.

Not one for subtleties, Toph walked right up to Katara. "Why didn't you tell me he put you up to this, huh? You felt sorry for me, is that it?"

"No, it wasn't like that!" Katara promised, but Toph was too angry to listen.

"You know what? Never mind. It's not your fault, it's _his_. But don't worry. The minute I find my clothes I'll give back your key and get the hell outta here!"

Toph didn't want or need _anyone's_ pity.

"Short Stuff, listen-"

"Leave me alone!" Toph yelled, shrugging his hand off her shoulder.

Zuko wanted to explain and apologize, but when one of the guys came into his line of sight, his focus shifted. "How old are you, man? You know she's too young for you, right?"

"What!?" Sokka cried, insulted. "I don't look _that_ much older! ...Do I?" he asked meekly.

Golden eyes went wide. "So you...!?"

Suki stepped in between them. "If it had been him, _I_ would be the one kicking his ass. The person you're looking for is over there." She pointed at Aang, who was walking out of his room.

Three long strides and Zuko was in his face. "What are your intentions with Toph?"

"Dude, _relax!_" Toph yelled, suddenly looking mortified. "What do you care anyway? Sweetness is right there, it's not like you can go blab it to her later!"

"_Sweetness_?" Katara muttered under her breath, but shook her head because there were more important things going on. "Zuko was only looking out for you. That was the only reason-"

"No one asked you!"

"Toph, come on, there's no reason to yell at her!"

Aang stepped into Zuko's personal space.

"Well then, don't yell at Toph either!"

"I can handle it, Twinkletoes!"

"I'm sure you can, but-"

"I am _not_ that old!" Sokka cried, hoping someone would agree.

Everyone was busy yelling at everyone else, no one heard the soft tapping at the door, no one except Suki. When the others didn't listen to her pleas to quiet down, she whistled as loudly as humanly possible to get their attention. "Everyone, shut up!" she ordered before opening the door.

"I'm not interrupting anything important, am I?"

"Nope," Suki smiled sweetly, "Come on in."

"Haru, hi," Katara greeted awkwardly. Was _every_ person they knew going to show up? "What brings you up here? Come in. Have a seat."

"Thanks, but I can't stay. Teo's out of town, so I'm opening the bar today. I only stopped by to return this to Aang."

Grey eyes turned curious.

"Return what to me?"

"This," Haru smiled. Aang simply stared at the small, wooden box the other man held in the palm of his hand. "I told you I'd keep it safe, didn't I?"

"Keep what safe?" Sokka asked as his roommate reached for the box.

"You...look familiar," Toph said, squinting, while trying to place the long-haired, mustached guy. She had definitely seen him before. "Do I know you?"

"I would hope so," Haru chuckled, looking from Toph to Aang. "I was Best Man at your wedding."


	6. Sokka

**AN: ****Check out the awesome image art! *flails* It's a modern au by adorako on tumblr! =D**

**Oh and a bit of a warning for language in this chapter...**

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Shock wasn't the right word. Neither was surprise. Utterly fucking stunned was more accurate. After a collective gasp, the apartment full of people was dead silent.

"Well, I, uh, _really_ have to get going but you should stop by for a drink. On me, for the happy couple," Haru winked at Toph and Aang, trying to lighten the mood. "So...see you guys later," he said, practically running out the door.

Once it swung shut, various glances were exchanged, followed by another long silence. Aang and Toph looked at each other, then down at the small box in his hand, then back up at each other. The others did the same.

Then, all at once a hundred questions were asked.

"Holy shit! Is that what I think it is?" Suki shrieked while Katara could barely mutter, "Oh my _god_... You guys _didn't_... Did you?"

"You got married? Is that what I was supposed to congratulate you on!?" Zuko cried at the exact time Sokka grabbed Aang by the front of his shirt and yelled, "You got hitched? And _I_ wasn't your Best Man? Dude, how could you do this to me?"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"When did you do it?"

"Where?"

"Is it legal?"

"_You're married!?_" Zuko screeched, still unable to process anything beyond that.

So many questions were flying at her, Toph didn't know where to begin. She was at a complete loss. Making matters worse, Aang, too, seemed to have no clue how to reply to any inquiry. He wore this half-vacant, half-frightened look on his face and he was so much paler than he had been a few minutes ago.

"**_Shut up!_**" Toph yelled, grabbing Aang by the hand and yanking him into his room. She heard Sokka mutter, "Well, that was rude."

Locking the door to keep everyone else out, she sagged against it. Glancing his way, green eyes searched grey. Grey searched green

Vaguely, she was aware Aang had cleaned up his room. Probably when he returned to look for her phone. The bed was made and the few items scattered on the floor were picked up and put away somewhere. Even his bookshelves looked neater.

"That bed is huge," she mumbled, pushing off the door. She may have noticed earlier, but it was like she was looking at it for the first time.

"Yeah, I...I had a dog," he replied absently._ He was married..._ He and Toph...they were..._husband and wife_? Aang gulped.

"...What?" Toph shook her head. "That doesn't even make sense."

"His, uh, name was Appa. My dog. I snuck him in here. Sokka was cool with it, but some neighbors heard him barking one night and I was asked to get rid of him." Aang was talking without really knowing what he was saying. _ He was married... _But... He...what?_ Married! _That...might have been the craziest thing he'd ever done.

To him, marriage was a big deal. It was a be-with-forever, happily-ever-after type of thing. And he always planned to get married. Once he found the right girl, of course. But ever since Katara... Yeah, he'd gone out a few times. A date here and there. Onji he had really liked, but her old boyfriend came back and that was the end of that. Since then Aang figured that if something was meant to happen, it would. And now, something _had_. Part of him had always believed in fate and destiny and maybe Toph was his. True, they had only just met, but he couldn't deny there was something about her. And it wasn't just that she was beautiful and incredibly attractive and pretty funny. It was something he couldn't quite put into words. What little he knew, he liked. And what he didn't, he couldn't wait to find out. So...maybe it wasn't so bad?

He could almost hear Sokka's voice telling him not to be stupidly optimistic and hopelessly romantic about this (as he was prone to do), but Aang couldn't help it. He was used to trying to find the good in everything and he always felt there was at least one perfect person for everyone. Still, it's not like he _wanted_ to be married at twenty-one. He wasn't done with school, didn't have his dream job, or his own place. And yet, his unrivaled optimism was winning.

After all, it could've been worse, right? It's not like he destroyed any property, didn't do anything painful or horrible to his own person he would regret later, and he didn't ended up in jail or anything. All he did was marry someone. Although, he had hoped to know his wife for more than one day before the wedding. Shaking those thoughts away, he returned to Toph's question. She had asked about Appa. "Yeah, he was this huge sheepdog, so I needed a big bed. But...he passed away before I could find him somewhere else to live."

"Oh." Only half listening, she heard that part clear enough. "I'm sorry."

The smile he gave her made Toph want to reach out to him.

"It's okay. He was pretty old and..."

His mouth was moving and she knew he was speaking, saying something to her about his dog who he obviously missed a lot, but everything was suddenly going in slow motion and Toph couldn't make out anything that he said. All she kept thinking was that of all the stupid, idiotic things she coulda done while drunk, she got _married_. What the actual _fuck_!? That was_ the worst_ _thing_ she coulda done! Why didn't she wreck a hotel room? Get pierced or tatted up or something she'd regret in the morning that would be extremely painful and cost lots of money to get rid of? Hell, she'd even prefer to have gotten arrested! But no, she had promised to love, honor, and _obey!_ - seriously, obey!? - another person in sickness and in health 'til death did them part? That was...hell, she fucking fucked up!

"What's in the box?" Toph asked suddenly, breaking Aang from his own thoughts.

He had never seen that box before in his life and he told her that. But, after the bombshell Haru dropped on them, he had an idea of what could be in there.

"Open it, Twinkletoes."

Aang didn't want to, but he knew he had to. His eyes flitted to Toph's. She was biting her lower lip one second, then snatching the box from him the other.

Her heart was beating so fast in her chest, in her ears, everywhere. When she glanced up at him, he looked nervous, too. She could swear she could _hear_ his heartbeat and feel it through the floor.

_Just do it. Just open it._

Exhaling once, she lifted the top off.

What they feared, stared back at them: two silver wedding bands. Immediately, Toph shut the box, tossed it on the bed, and cursed up a storm. Aang had never heard so many bad words uttered at one time.

"_What's in the box?_" Sokka asked from the other side of the door. "_We wanna know, too!_"

Toph swung the door open and the other four nearly toppled into Aang's room.

"We gotta talk to Mustache."

"You mean Haru?"

"I think she means _your _Best Man, Aang!" Sokka huffed, crossing his arms and turning from his roommate.

Katara smacked the back of her brother's head. "There are more important things going on right now than the wedding party!"

Ignoring his sister, Sokka shoved his way into the bedroom and yanked Aang off the bed. "All I wanted to do yesterday was celebrate, but you got drunk, disappeared, and now I know why!"

"What were you celebrating?" Zuko wondered.

"Yeah, I've been trying to figure that out, too, babe," Suki added.

Sokka ignored the question directed at him and continued with his tirade. "Didn't we say we'd be each other's Best Man if we ever got married? I don't have any brothers! How could you forget that? You screwed me, man! Does being roommates mean nothing to you!?"

Having heard enough, Suki dragged her boyfriend back out into the living room.

"Can you _please_ calm down? We don't even know the whole story yet."

Sokka was completely still for a second. "...That's true," he said, slipping out of his girlfriend's grasp. "We need to figure out what happened last night, don't we?"

"Oh, no," Katara mumbled, facepalming because she knew what was coming.

Zuko looked from Katara to her brother. "What? What is it?"

"Now, we're stuck with Sokka the detective."

"It's Detective Sokka. At your service."

"Where'd you get that hat?" Suki asked him, eyeing that hideous thing he wore on his head. And was he holding a magnifying glass?

Zuko made a face. Like the others there, he looked rather confused. "Detective? You mean like..._Sherlock_?"

"Uh-oh... You shouldn't have said that," Aang whispered, backing away slowly into his room. "Toph, get in here," he added in a hushed voiced.

"Sherlock?" Sokka cried, sounding a little insulted. "No, not Sherlock. More like the World's Greatest Detective." When no one seemed to understand, he explained. "Ever hear of a little superhero called _Batman_?"

They all stared at him with blank expressions on their faces.

"Hey, have you guys seen _Iron Man 3_?" Suki asked.

Katara and Zuko exchanged a look.

"Most of it," Katara replied, her cheeks growing warm.

"We're not discussing Iron Man right now!"

Katara rolled her eyes. "I'm going to the bathroom," she said. Because one, she had to pee and two, if she had to listen to her brother go on about the same old nonsense one more time, she was going to lose it.

Suki turned to her boyfriend. "Wait, I thought Batman was The Dark Knight?"

"Isn't he The Caped Crusader though?" Zuko asked. His comic book knowledge might have been limited, but he knew that much.

Frustrated beyond belief, Sokka was ready to hit someone. "He's _all _of those! _Plus,_ the World's Greatest Detective. He's Batman, people! And he is awesome."

Whatever was going on in the living room, Toph lost interest. She turned on her heel, headed straight into Aang's room, and slammed the door shut. Twinkletoes had picked up the box again and held two silver wedding bands in his hand. His expression was indecipherable.

"The rings..." he trailed off.

"What about them?"

His gaze found hers. "They _are_ ours."

"How do you know?" she asked, her voice reaching that panicky level.

"Because...they have our names inscribed inside."

If this was some kind of elaborate trick someone was trying to play on them and they _weren't_ really married, Toph swore she would never, ever, _ever_ get drunk again. Ever. But until they knew that for certain, Toph could only mutter one thing.

"Crap."


End file.
